A Small Dream
by Paopu Pop
Summary: Riku, Sora and Kairi have settled in together in their own place, leading normal lives. That is, until a dream decides to nominate them as the new Alices of a horrible Wonderland, a nightmare that dares to call itself a "dream."  RS
1. The Beginning

_March 16, 2012 - ENDING OF CHAPTER 1 REVISED.  
_

_This is the edited, non-explicit version. Go to my profile for the link to the original._

**A/N: I know I have other fanfics that need some attention, but I really wanted to start this idea before I let it slip into the depths of the ideas I let get away from me. :[**

**This is going to be loosely based on the popular Vocaloid song, _Alice Human Sacrifice_. I'll also throw in stories from other Vocaloid horror songs for on the side. No, you don't have to have any prior knowledge of the Vocaloid fandom to enjoy this fic—I'm merely using it as a base for the horror C: (Then again, knowledge of the Vocaloid fandom won't really make this fic any more predictable either… hee.)**

**Unfortunately, at the moment I have _tons _of schoolwork piled on me, so updates are going to be hella slow. Don't expect one for a while—I'm just throwing fair warning.**

**Credit where credit is due: Translated lyrics were taken from lordxwillie of YouTube. I don't know the original creator of Human Alice Sacrifice.**

* * *

There was once a little dream. No one knows who had dreamt it. It was really such a small dream. This made the little dream think, "I don't want to disappear… how can I make people dream me?"

The little dream thought and thought, and at last had an idea.

"**I will make people come to me, and they will make my world."**

* * *

A Small Dream

Chapter 1 – The Beginning

Riku anxiously checked his cell phone for the third time in the last five minutes. 1:24. Kairi and Sora were supposed to meet him at the restaurant about a half an hour ago. Where could they be?

Finally, after an agonizing twenty-four minutes, Riku spotted Sora running in the distance, looking disheveled. Well, at least he _knew _that he was running late.

"S-sorry, Riku!" he cried out as he quickly approached. "I couldn't find my wallet, and—"

"Whoa, slow down, Sora." Riku chuckled as his best friend bent against the stone wall to catch his breath. "It's all right; Kairi's not even here yet."

"Oh…" Sora replied between pants. "Huh. I wonder where… _huhhh…_ she's at."

Riku shrugged. "She didn't answer my call. I guess we'll have to wait."

Sora's breathing slowed, and he stood up straight again. "I'll bet she caught up in her shopping again," he guessed with a shrug, "and probably didn't hear her phone."

"Maybe." Riku played with a button on his top, flicking it back into place over and over. _When did being with Sora be so awkward? _Quickly Riku squashed those feelings that were threatening to come to light. _No, not now._

"So I've been thinking," Sora started, catching Riku's undivided attention, "about the future."

"Time's moving faster than it used to," Riku observed offhandedly. It was already five years since they'd returned from their epic journey through other worlds.

Sora nodded and continued. "About when we get older and where we want to be. Everyone's been asking about when 'Kairi and I are going to get a place of our own,' and 'when Kairi and I are going to get married.'"

Riku inwardly twitched about the thought of Sora and Kairi being together. Everyone on the islands talked about them being the cutest couple, and how Riku's the third wheel in the trio's apartment.

Sora went on, "But I decided that's not what I want." Riku was watching Sora intently. "I love Kairi. But… us, dating? It's weird. We tried once, remember?"

"Yeah." Riku didn't want to think about it or where this conversation was going. There were other girls that had an eye for his—with Sora.

"So then, I thought about if there was anyone else I'd rather be with." Sora glanced away, watching customers enter and exit the restaurant. Suddenly, Sora was blinking rapidly and swallowing thickly. "And I thought it about it really hard. Every time I started making a list, all I could think of…" Swallow. "Was you."

"Me?" Riku inquired, trying his best not to prematurely get his hopes up and failing.

Sora nodded, returning a tentative gaze back to his best friend. "Yeah. If I had to choose someone to spend the rest of my life with… it'd be you." And there he was, words spilling out of his mouth without control. "Because I just lately have been having these weird dreams about us and then I think about one day being away in our own lives and I realize I couldn't bear that because it's you I look up to and look for strength and I want no one else but you…"

Sora's voice dropped to silence when he realized he was indeed rambling. Mentally he scrambled for the pieces and concluded with a single sentence that was softly spoken but brimming with absolute certainty, "Riku, I love you."

It was so quiet that Riku had almost missed it, but he was _sure _he heard it, because he would never miss something he'd been waiting to hear for years. To reaffirm, he searched Sora's eyes, which were staring back at Riku with unwavering determination. Riku couldn't smother the grin starting to spread across his face and the blush painting itself on his cheeks. And Sora grinned back, presumably because he could read Riku's expression clear as day.

_he loves me he loves me he loves me_

But instead of the kiss that would set fireworks ablaze, Riku took Sora's hand in his own, the touch making his nerves crackle like sparks of electricity and whispered in the brunet's ear, "And I love you."

Sora's grin grew so wide that Riku's own spread thicker across his face, and Riku could feel his heart thrumming so hard he thought it would bust at any moment. It was a feeling that lifted the heavy questions and sent them spiraling in the air, disappearing as if they'd never been.

And as Riku contemplated the action of reaching for Sora's lips despite their current location, they numbly heard a familiar voice in the distance. Simultaneously they turned to see Kairi, her hair splayed and knotted from her sprint.

"I know it's _waaay _after one o'clock, I am so sorry. I just went out to get groceries and then I ended up getting roped into helping Mrs. Morrow take her groceries home and _then _I was getting cookies shoveled down my throat, and until I looked at my phone I hadn't realized how late it was."

"Kairi, I couldn't find my wallet and just got here five minutes ago," Sora laughed. "Poor Riku was standing here by himself."

"Yeah, and I was even early. Poor me," Riku jested.

Kairi took a moment to peer at Sora, then to Riku, and back to Sora. "You two look suspicious," Kairi spoke as she started to smirk. "Okay, what did I miss?"

"Nothing!" they shouted together. Kairi shook her head in disbelief.

"Eventually you two are going to have to tell me. So… are we gonna get a table or what?"

* * *

Inside the cozy restaurant, Kairi sat across from the guilty-looking men. They buried their faces in the menus, even though they _always _got the same thing at Costal Hideaway every Saturday.

Flicking her menu across the wooden table with her fingertips, she tried again. "Seriously, you two are acting like giddy school girls. What happened within the five minutes of me coming?" Sora and Riku looked up like two animals caught in headlights. "What could be _soooo secret_ that you can't even tell _me_, your bestest friend in the whole world?"

Sora looked at Riku for help, and Riku said promptly, "We were wondering if you dating anyone."

Kairi's eyebrows furrowed as Sora's threatened to fly right off his face. With a soft smile, Kairi answered, "_Maaay-_be."

"_Maaay -_be who?" Riku admittedly wasn't expecting _that _kind of answer.

"Well—"

"Hello." The waitress had arrived back at the table. "Did you decide what you'd like for lunch today?"

"Yes, I'd like the strawberry chicken salad," Kairi requested whilst compiling her and the boy's menus.

"A California burger with extra mayo, please," was Sora's order.

"The crab-cake sandwich, with coleslaw on the side."

"All right," the waitress chirped, collecting the menus from Kairi atop her small notebook she'd been scribbling on. "I'll put your orders in then and a refill of Cherry Coke for you." With that, she bounced away, leaving the three back to business.

"How do you guzzle down an entire glass of soda before we even put orders in, Sora?" Kairi giggled.

"Sor -_ry!_" he quipped, playing with the straw in his empty cup. "So you gonna answer Riku's question? Oh! Is it someone we know?"

Kairi beamed at the two. "I'm withholding that information until you two spill the beans about what happened outside the restaurant. And don't try to lie. You know you can't fool me!"

Riku's eyes flickered over to Sora's blue ones. Sora nodded and the former returned his gaze to Kairi. "Well, we… uhh…"

"Riku and I are dating now!" Sora declared, sensing Riku's insecurity. Not believing how blunt Sora's outburst was, Riku hid his face with his palm. He heard the waitress set down a second glass on the table and snatch the empty one.

"Well, about time." Riku peered up and saw her crossing her arms. She was taking this better than expected. "You two have been staring at each other for _years _now. I was just waiting until one of you cracked."

"So you mean…" Riku croaked, "you _knew _this whole time?"

"Before you two even realized it yourselves." She took a sip of her soda, lips delicately placed around the straw. "And to keep my end of the deal, I'm going out with Tidus tonight."

Both men rocked forward across the table in shock. **"Tidus?"**

"He asked me to go out with him to dinner yesterday while I was at work," she giggled. "So long as the three of us didn't have any plans tonight." Riku and Sora shook their heads in unison. "Yeah, I figured."

The conversation drifted into lighter matters, and soon the food came. As Riku crunched a mouthful of coleslaw, he noticed a young girl in the corner of the restaurant. She was a teenager, maybe around 14 or 15. Her pink hair hung in two high pigtails, tendrils swirled an inch above her shoulders. The girl appeared to be waiting for the bathroom in that corner, but no one ever came out.

Instead, she stared at their table fixedly. It was creepy. For a moment, their eyes locked, malicious intent sharpened in her features. He broke the connection, afraid of that sense that was nagging the back of his mind.

As soon as the bill was down on the table, Riku snatched it, stuffed the full amount and tip in cash inside the bill folder, and made a bee-line for the door. Kairi and Sora weren't far behind, overwhelmed by Riku's sudden exit.

"Riku, what's wrong?" Sora asked, tugging the back of his sunshine yellow button-up.

"I felt something," he murmured.

"Something?" Kairi asked.

"Darkness," he hissed. Kairi held a hand to her chest in disbelief.

"I didn't feel anything," Sora offered. "Maybe you were imagining it."

"No, it was Darkness." He could feel his voice trembling and breaking. "I spent a long time drowning in it. I can sense it a mile away. Did you see the girl with the curly pigtails?"

Kairi and Sora looked at each other with the same question visibly on their lips. _What is he talking about?_

"I didn't imagine this," he said, aware that his friends thought he was unreasonably freaking out.

"Riku…" Sora wrapped a hand around the taller man's, relaxing and stimulating Riku in one fell swoop. "It'll be okay. Let's just go back to the apartment, okay?"

"Wait," Riku ripped his hand out of Sora's grip to peek back into the restaurant. But there in the corner where Creepy once stood was no one. And the swallowing grip of darkness had dissipated too. Maybe he _had _just imagined it.

"Riku," Sora repeated. "It's okay." He held out a hand that Riku couldn't resist taking for his own. _His _Sora. No one else's. "Let's get goin'."

* * *

It'd only taken an hour since the time Kairi left for her date for the two men to be caught in an unnerving silence. They'd turned on an action movie, but it was one they'd seen dozens of times and neither were really watching.

Sora was the first to turn, admitting that he'd never been paying attention. "Riku?"

Riku rolled his head to the side to look back. "Yeah?"

Sora's eyes were darting back and forth. But they were always focused on Riku. Riku felt his face flush at the thought. "How long?"

Riku didn't have to ask for clarification. "I don't know," he admitted. "A long time. Before we left the islands. It's… vague, though. One day it just kind of hit me."

Sora smiled shyly, something the brunet didn't do very often. "Yeah, me too."

And they stared at each other in silence, save for the shouting and vehicles playing in the background. Sora was first to make a move, reaching his hand to touch Riku's face. His fingers tentatively skimmed the raised bone of Riku's eyebrow, and traced the outline down to where his cheekbone began. His palm pressed to his cheek and a thumb rubbed the corner of Riku's mouth.

Riku's stomach did a flip in response to the soft touches, previously unaware of how something so small could make him feel so warm. The raggedy crème couch creaked as Sora balanced himself with his free arm to lift him towards Riku's face, both of their breathing getting faster by every passing second. Blood rushing in Riku's ears drowned out the sounds of the television.

The gap between their lips closed, and heat seared through Riku's neck, spine, and all the way down to his toes. They broke the kiss, and both reached for another. Riku felt Sora's mouth open a little; he himself did the same. After a few more soft kisses, Riku experimentally poked the very tip of his tongue to taste Sora's lips.

Sora groaned lowly and replied with a brave thrust of tongue. Eagerly the two deepened their kiss with tongues sliding against each other, and Riku pushed into Sora's mouth fiercely. Sora gave a little yelp and separated himself.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked, worried that he'd taken a step too far.

"You're getting me with your teeth, jerk." Sora laughed, giving Riku a poke in the shoulder. "I think you're kissing too hard."

"Sorry…" Riku murmured. Kissing didn't come as naturally as he thought it did.

Sora laughed openly, breathy from his hormones kicking it in full drive. "Don't be sorry. I don't really expect you to be good at this."

"Have you ever done this?" Riku asked, unsure. He knew that Sora and Kairi's relationship had been a bit rocky, but he never dared asked how far they'd taken it.

Sora shook his head, and then flashed Riku his trademark toothy grin. "Nope, first time."

Riku smiled. That was a pleasant surprise. This time Riku was first to go in, picking up where they'd left off. Heat pooled in the pit of his stomach and made him tingle all over.

Sora reached to touch Riku—fingers slowly trailed down the front, feeling muscle through his shirt. Sora's fingers explored up, down, and around, until it brushed against a perk nipple.

Riku couldn't fight the soft moan he'd voiced in Sora's mouth. It encouraged him to roam both hands with palms flat against him. His left hand stopped right below a nipple, gently massaging it as the other hand lay around the side of Riku's neck.

The skin prickled with heat where Sora's bare palm lay against it, and where he was receiving attention was making him lose his mind. Returning the favor, his hands skittered across Sora's torso rapidly. His left hand imitated Sora's, grazing a nipple absentmindedly as he tried something he'd seen in a movie before.

He grabbed the pinna of Sora's ear, and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger. He felt Sora shudder between kisses; it'd worked after all. Riku was tired of following Sora's lead, so he took it upon himself to push Sora backwards on the couch. Their limbs caught tangled in an awkward mess, and they took a moment to pause and lay themselves out comfortably.

As Riku shifted and slowly lowered himself atop Sora, he felt something hard against his thigh. Butterflies flittered down somewhere deep within him; Sora wanted this just as badly as he did.

Settled in with one arm partially curled between the both of them and another alongside Sora's head, Riku began to kiss Sora feverishly. Sora hummed and reached for Riku's back with both arms, wildly grabbing and running up and down his shirt. As Riku shifted slightly to get flood flowing back into the arm that had been crushed, Sora leaned up into Riku, rubbing their full erections together.

Riku grunted in surprise, but pushed back. His skin was on fire and his heart was in his throat. At this rate…

A thought came to Riku as he suddenly stopped altogether. "Sora…" he mumbled. Sora glanced up questionably at his lover as his mind scrambled to form a coherent thought. "How far do you want to take this?"

Sora's pupils were dilated from lust, and he was clearly trying to think himself. "As far as you want to."

Somewhere deep within Riku, he twitched in anticipation. "What if it's too soon? We just started dating today, Sora, and already..."

"Riku, we're guys with sex on the brain," Sora stated plainly, "and I know I love you. It's not a mistake, if that's what you're thinking." Sora was spot-on. "It's nothing to be afraid of. In my heart, I know it's okay. Don't you believe that?"

"Yeah. I do." Riku smiled softly, kissing Sora once more. "Does that mean you do want to…"

Sora laughed. "Isn't that obvious?" Riku's chuckles bubbled out uncontrollably, unable to handle the immense amount of emotions overflowing. He trembled in excitement, the anticipation making his guts melt into a puddle.

* * *

When they floated down from the orgasm, Sora laid down gently on top of Riku, twisting his legs around Riku's. The bed was only meant for one, so it didn't leave much room for them to lie otherwise.

"I love you," Sora whispered, planting a kiss on Riku's salty cheek.

Riku smiled and left a kiss in Sora's spiky hair. "I love you too, dork."

Slowly Sora slid himself out of Riku, and stood on his knees to stretch widely. "Whaddaya say to a shower?"

"Sounds good," Riku replied, "But you'll have to give me a little bit, I'm a bit sore here…"

Sora sniggered a little at Riku's expense, who got a soft wallop in the head for it.

"Next time, you're bottom."

"Aww, Riku!..."

* * *

It was the next day when the trio was back out again to catch a bus to the dock. Today they were headed back to the small island they grew up on for a visit. In reality, they probably would have stayed on the island, but all there was offered now were beach houses that couldn't be afforded by three young adults fresh out of school.

Sora let out something that was like a sigh and a yawn. "Riku…" he managed to breathe out. "How much longer until the bus gets here?"

Riku looked down at his watch to note the time. "It should be here any moment," he answered. "Be patient. We have all day, you know."

"Bahh," Sora groaned. "But I'm bored…"

Kairi giggled at Sora's silliness. "Sora, Riku's right. Calm down."

Sora grimaced. Riku turned to Kairi whilst giving a small yawn as well. "So," he stated, "how was your date with Tidus last night?"

Kairi gave a small smirk. "Fine," she chirped.

"No juicy details?"

Her grin only widened. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I would." As Riku spoke, the bus pulled up to the stop. Without hesitation, Sora flew inside the instant the doors opened, immediately depositing the correct change before clambering towards an empty seat.

"I'll tell you on the bus," Kairi said quietly with a hint of mischievousness as she hopped on next, much more graceful than her excitable friend. Riku followed her in, doors shutting behind him moments after he filed behind Kairi and sat between Sora and her.

"Well, first he took me to that new fancy restaurant they just built on the boardwalk…"

"You mean the one with the green and purple umbrellas?"

"Yep."

"That one looked so cool! Was the food good?"

Now that the three were settled in, Kairi and Sora were chatting about Kairi's date. However, Riku found himself unable to concentrate on the conversation. Although it was only sunrise, the bus was completely empty. He supposed that it _was _a Sunday morning, but he still had the heebie-jeebies about the situation.

Adrenaline flooded into his stomach when he found himself staring at the back of the driver's head.

It was as if he wasn't allowed the time to assess the weight of the situation before the bus rollicked wildly through the streets, no yield given to opposing traffic or pedestrians. Riku held on to a seat for dear life, failing miserably as fingers slipped against the plastic seat. Meanwhile, Sora clutched Kairi on the floor to try to keep their balance steady as much as possible.

Tendrils of inky darkness flooded the bus floor, and Riku knew that his suspicions were true. The girl from the restaurant—she was going to kill them right there.

But before Riku could do anything to stop the inevitable, the bus rolled to the left, and there was nothing more.


	2. The Alices

**A/N: For those of you picking this back up from the first post, I revised the ending of the first chapter. It's not plot-changing, but it was a nit-picky thing that I changed. Plus I like it a little better. (It'll be referred to here.) **

**I think I read this chapter a million times, and I still don't like the editing. Perhaps I'm just being picky, though. Tell me what you think?**

**P.S. - I've started to get a little gory with this one. Just a warning. C:  
**

* * *

A Small Dream

Chapter 2 – The Alices

Kairi rolled over in the dirt, her body stiff and sore. Where was she?

As she lifted herself from the ground, she felt dead leaves crinkle and fall from her hair and back. She tugged on the fabric of a scarlet dress that she was wearing. What the hell was going on?

She almost felt sad that the white apron tied to her waist had already been soiled with dirt before she'd even seen the dress clean, but that thought was quickly dismissed with a quickening of fear. Wasn't she just on a bus ride with Riku and Sora? Her head swung to the left and then to the right, but no one was there. Just Kairi and the trees.

Kairi scrambled to her feet as she surveyed the area. The woods were empty of human life. With nothing else to do, she walked forward with no sense of direction. "Riku!... Sora!..." She knew her cries were in vain, but she had to try.

As she quieted her cries for a moment to catch her breath, a realization dawned upon her. Naminé's constant train of thoughts that Kairi was usually blocking out subconsciously were gone. Kairi's knees almost buckled her as she felt immense grief. Half of her own soul was _missing._ Just maybe, this was a horrible dream. It had to be.

Tears began to run down Kairi's face in a mix of fear and sorrow. She had to find Sora and Riku to find the way back home. She'd been to many different worlds before, but she had a horrible feeling about this one.

* * *

Riku awoke to find an unfamiliar man staring straight into his eyes. Riku gave a startled yelp, which surprised the man who was analyzing him from above.

"Are you alright, young sir?"

Riku blinked hard, and then again. What was he doing just before this? Wasn't he trying to take a bus to the main island?

The complexity of the situation hit him hard as he suddenly swooped to a sitting position. He regretted the decision after he'd done so—the world spun in dizzy circles around him. "You don't look okay—sir?..." Riku's vision faded and blacked to nothing.

When he reopened his eyes, he found himself on a mattress. What was going on? He sat up, slower this time round and took a look at his surroundings. He seemed to be in a bedroom, but it was as basic as one could get—just the bed and a vanity. He swiveled himself to jump off the bed. When he looked at his pants, he realized, those were definitely _not _the clothes he put on this morning.

He rose to look at himself in the vanity mirror. He donned a green tailcoat, and underneath he wore a white button vest. A matching green-patterned ascot was wrapped around his neck, though it was coming undone in Riku's ruffled state. He looked down to peer at the charcoal dress pants he was wearing. His feet were dressed in dark slacks—and he found the black shoes he was missing neatly lined up by the door.

Of all clothes, why _these_? Riku had worn some crazy stuff back in the day, but nothing so… _fancy._ It was weird and not to mention uncomfortable.

As he was tugging the annoying ascot off, the door creaked open. A young but voluptuous woman dressed in a red evening gown approached Riku. "How are you doing my dear?"

Her voice was elegant but had a sharp edge to it. Riku immediately didn't trust her. "I'm fine," he replied, "Just a little tired."

"You poor boy!" She reached out to cup his chin in her palm, in which Riku instinctually backed away from. Maleficent had _loved _to do that. Her hand withered back to her side. "Perhaps some dinner will give you some energy. Meet me down at the dining room at six o' clock." She turned to leave, but twisted on her heel to look at Riku once more. "I am Meiko, by the way—Meiko Sakane."

"Riku." It was all that was needed. She was gone in that moment, down the steps to attend to some other business.

* * *

Sora awoke to a similar situation, finding himself in a strange bed. As a sigh left his lips, he heard shuffling from nearby. "Are you awake?" Sora groaned, unable to find any words. What happened after the bus flipped—

"Wait, who are you?"

The man who had spoken to Sora, who Sora now saw was a tall man dressed in a lab coat, stood by his side and pulled Sora to sit upright. "My name is Gakupo. I found you lying nearby my lab, so I brought you in. How are you feeling?"

"Not the best, actually," Sora confessed. His head was pounding from a strong headache. He reached to rub the ache on the back of his head when he felt a foreign cloth touch his hand.

It was then he discovered his new wardrobe. A blue muffler was haphazardly strangled around his neck, and his t-shirt and shorts were replaced by a clean white suit. "What the heck am I wearing?" he added, becoming more bewildered by the minute.

"That seems to be your attire for this place," Gakupo said as he rubbed his chin. "Fascinating…"

"Just where is 'this place?'" Sora asked.

"Wonderland."

* * *

After taking a restless nap in the bedroom, Riku managed to stumble down to the dining room, which took him a few minutes to find in the house, where Meiko was seated at a long table alone. She had a bowl in front of herself, and another bowl was set in an empty spot a few places down. "Sit down, dear," she said. "Have some dinner."

Riku knew something was amiss as he sat down in front of the bowl of… well, what the fuck _was _that? As he stared down, all he saw was a brown soupy broth with pieces of meat and green vegetables. He wasn't sure if this was going to give him energy or suck it right out of him.

"I know it doesn't look quite right—I had to finish it myself after the cook quit."

"The cook?"

"He was the one who brought you in. But he matters not anymore; please eat." And promptly, Meiko began to stuff her face.

Riku wondered if she had any other servants, like maids or butlers or the sort. But the house was so quiet, it seemed impossible. As he analyzed the slop, for some reason he couldn't place, the sight of it began to disgust him. Perhaps this whole situation was working on his nerves—and his appetite.

He suddenly pushed the bowl away and stood. "I'm sorry, but I'm just not hungry," he said, being mostly truthful.

"Oh, okay. Then… could you pass that here?" For a second, he thought she was _kidding. _But the savage look in her eyes indicated that she was quite serious. Wordlessly, Riku pushed the bowl down the side of the table until it was within her reach. She nodded gratefully and continued to eat.

As Riku walked away from the table, however, he realized how incredibly _parched _he was. She wouldn't mind if he just got a drink from the kitchen, right?

It wasn't hard to find the kitchen; it just through one hallway and a door and he was already there. An overwhelming smell hit his nose right away—it was sort of familiar, but he just couldn't identify what it was.

Pots and pans were carelessly laid about the countertop and stove, more than likely from Meiko's attempt to finish her meal. He took a peek in what he assumed was the refrigerator (and when he opened the door to find a chill creep out, this guess was affirmed) but found nothing to drink there.

He looked at the faucet. The metal from the spout was beginning to turn a corrosive ugly green. Staring at the sink, while he decided he didn't trust whatever liquid came out of _that_, realized the air was a metallic smell.

_Blood, _was the first metallic-like smell he could think of. _It stinks of blood in here._

Morbidly fascinated and disturbed at the same time, he turned to face the trashcan. His own blood ran cold as he noticed the red rivers that had dried on the side of the trashcan. _Dead animal? _he guessed, horrified that animal remains could be so gruesomely tossed into the disposal.

But he wanted to see it. He didn't know what it was that compelled him to walk over to the trashcan—but all the same he did, and couldn't stop himself as he gingerly lifted the lid. When he looked inside, and he realized just what it was he was looking at, he turned and promptly vomited on the floor.

As he spat the last of acid on his tongue out, he could feel his stomach lurch again. He was in so much shock about what he saw that he had to look again just to make sure he hadn't imagined it. And look again he did—to which he had to cover his mouth to contain what was left of his stomach contents.

The head of the cook had been staring at him from inside the trash, wide-eyed and soaked in blood. Stacked around his face were bones that were undeniably human, but they were stripped clean of all meat.

He thought about why the bones would be picked clean, and when he thought about what he'd been doing moments before he was in the kitchen, he managed to find nasty bile back in his throat.

* * *

"Wonderland?" Sora asked. "But… I've been there before. This definitely wasn't it."

"You must be speaking of somewhere within the physical universe," Gakupo said, sweeping over a computer as he conversed with Sora. "_This _Wonderland is one of the soul."

Sora paused to understand what Gakupo was telling him. "The soul?"

"It seems that this world is where our souls are sent without the body," Gakupo explained. "In other words, this is a dream."

"A dream?... like, I'll wake up in my bed soon?"

"If only it worked that way." Gakupo took a second to type rapidly into the computer before turning back to Sora. "The soul is more so _trapped _here. And if you don't find your way back to your physical body soon, it can be assumed that your body systems will shut down with time. And then your stay here becomes permanent." He paused for a moment. "I've been here for what seems to be two years, so I can only assume that my body began to rot long ago."

Sora trembled. Was this for real? Was it sure that if he didn't find his way back to Destiny Islands, he would never return? "How do you… you know, find your way back?"

"That, I'm researching." Gakupo said. "But I may need outside assistance for that…"

"But how did I even get here?"

"That is an interesting question." Gakupo stood up and approached his work desk. There from the top drawer, he pulled out a photograph to show to Sora. It was a woman, clad in a green dress that looked like it'd come from a hundred years ago. Her aqua hair was drawn in pigtails that elegantly curled down her sides. The tiara indicated royal status. "This is the queen of Wonderland, Queen Miku. I may believe she have something to do with it; she's always looking for more brainless subjects."

"So I'll take a guess that she's not a good queen."

"Quite the contrary. However, I cannot say for sure _how _she brings anyone to Wonderland or how she chooses them. I'm not even completely confident that it's her doing. But I've found no one that would have done it for any reason. She's not the only one who has a hand in Wonderland."

"What do you mean?"

"Sora, I must tell you: this world is quite _mad._" He took the picture back to return it to its resting place. "The demons that lurk this place are unforgiving and possess no reasoning."

* * *

Kairi had long since wiped away the tears on her cheeks. She trudged on in the forest, the sunlight slowly fading away. She didn't know what she was going to do when it became nightfall. Her only hope was to find some kind of shelter or cavern, but she hadn't come across any of those.

She found the strength to call for her friends again. "Sora! Riku!" Her voice had become raw and grated from screaming for several hours prior. She had only stopped now because she feared she would lose her voice altogether if she didn't start taking breaks. "Sora!... Riku!"

When she stopped yelling, she realized that her footsteps were not alone. She stilled and heard what suspiciously sounded like crunching leaves and the snapping of a twig behind her.

If they were sneaking behind her, it wasn't either of her friends.

Kairi found herself slowly turning toward the sound out of fearful curiosity. Back about twenty feet was a strange pair of girls, dressed in bright red suits. One girl was thinner, blonde hair in a side ponytail. The other was taller and had a rounder figure, her gray hair tied back with a black ribbon.

There was a pause in which no one moved, staring one another down. Suddenly, the blonde drew a long whip and lassoed it in Kairi's direction. Amazingly it covered enough distance to entangle Kairi, and she was instantly knocked off her feet. She was winded as her back slammed onto the ground.

"Too easy," the blonde said. Kairi kicked and screeched—her voice cutting in and out from strain.

"She's annoying," the other murmured. "Her voice is piercing."

"I guess we'll have to _shut her up _then." Blonde jerked the whip, which lifted Kairi into the air. That was the last Kairi saw.

* * *

"So, tell me how you came here, Sora."

"Well, um…" Sora had to think on that one. That morning felt like a dream. "This morning my friends and I were going on a bus somewhere. Then, it crashed, and I woke up here."

"Hm. Very interesting…" Sora didn't like the way Gakupo was staring at him.

"What is?"

"If the bus _did _crash before you came here, there's a chance your body is still recovering in a hospital. Which means you have a connection to the real world…"

Sora had a hunch where this was going. "The bus rolled pretty awfully." Sora tried to talk him out of the idea. "My body was probably crushed."

Gakupo's unwavering stare meant he wasn't going to be dissuaded any time soon. "Perhaps. But, we can always try…"

Sora leapt to his feet quickly, calling Oblivion to hand and pointing it at the scientist. "I wouldn't if I were you!"

Gakupo gracefully touched a key on the table, and straps shot out to bind Sora's ankles and wrists. One latched itself around Sora's waist, yanking him back upon the bed he'd woken upon.

"Don't be difficult," Gakupo said calmly. "I just need to run a few tests. It may kill you but, for the sake of science, it's worth trying."

"I'm giving you a chance to change your mind," Sora said, his mind racing as he quickly tried to think of a plan to escape. "Or I may be forced to hurt you."

"Those straps are going to be awful hard to struggle out of, dear boy." Gakupo turned his back to Sora, beginning work on his computer. "You were a fortunate find, I must admit… And it is remarkable how much you remind me of the Blue Alice…"

"Blue Alice?" Despite that Sora was in a mode of panic—adrenaline feeding through his heart and pounding in his veins—he managed to choke the question out. It was a bitter attempt to understand and at the same time distract the scientist.

"The Blue Alice," he explained, as he worked through menus on his computer, "is one of five in Wonderland. Their role is quite unclear. It seems to be more of a resurrection process—one falls, and another comes to take their place."

The explanation was like white noise to Sora's ears as his brain worked in high gear. While he may have been slowing the man down, it did not stop him. Somehow, Sora had to stop his progress… or at least disable the computer.

The computer. He had a memory from a few years ago at Radiant Garden; Cid had warned against ever practicing spells near the computer system. He contemplated the consequences of his plan as he felt the Keyblade melt into his fingertips again. As he concentrated silently, focusing the power to the palm of his hand and to the end of the Keyblade, he bargained this was his only solution.

"Which makes this a more interesting experiment, because if you _are _the Blue Alice, one would…"

But Gakupo never finished the sentence, because the _crack _of a strong bolt of Thundaga started a shower of sparks that ignited the computer system.

* * *

Riku knew that he needed to get out. He turned to leave, but there was Meiko standing at the door. "Where do you think you're going?" Her smile turned upward in a wicked, ravenous way.

Riku couldn't shake the panicky feeling that made his skin prickle. "I need to find my friends."

"But I'm still hungry." Her wrist turned just enough to make Riku notice the gleam of a butcher knife in her hand. Riku side-stepped to avoid a nasty cut, but Meiko's reflexes were much faster than Riku anticipated. He just barely missed the tip of the blade and dumped the trash over in his clumsiness.

Knowing he was in a tight spot, Riku drew Way to Dawn in his hand and pushed against the back wall with all the strength he could muster. The Keyblade met with the knife, Riku's force quite formidable against such a dull blade.

Riku used this strength to his advantage and applied enough power to make Meiko stumble backwards a few steps. He was able to pass by her and dash out of the kitchen.

He ran down the hallway, unsure of which direction was the exit. But he had no other choice but to run blindly.

He heard a horrific screech behind him, and the padding of feet told him that Meiko was soon on his heels. He almost missed it, but he caught the sound of the blade whipping through the air towards him. On reflex, he pivoted on his toes and swung his Keyblade outwards, sending a blow to propel the knife away.

The knife boomeranged back towards Meiko, and with a sickening tearing of flesh, it cut clean through her right arm. _Whoa, how did _that_ happen?_

Stunned, the woman halted in her step. Riku stopped to watch, though his brain was screaming at him with reason, _Run, run! What are you doing?_

Meiko staggered towards her arm where it had fallen on the ground as blood freely gushed from her open wound. She fell to her knees and stared at the amputated limb. For a moment her face was blank, and she picked up the arm. Riku had to keep himself from getting sick again. He had a hunch that he knew what she was thinking, but he prayed he was wrong.

The woman inspected the flesh and then brought it closer to her face. A finger lifelessly hung in her face, and she gave the bloody finger a small taste.

Riku couldn't watch.

He knew it was time to leave and tried to hastily leave without having to witness what was about to happen. But as he ran out of hearing range, he was able to pick up the sound of snapping and crunching and the undertone of content grumbles.

_What kind of place is this?_

Riku found the back door swung wide open and immediately took his chance.

As he found his way back to the outside world, he'd never been so happy to find air that was so heavy and stale of Darkness. But as he took a moment to gaze at his surroundings, he realized he was totally lost. Which direction should he go to find Sora and Kairi?

There was a single dirt path that fed from the house, and figuring it would at least help him keep some sort of direction, he began to follow it.

* * *

Roxas found himself face down on the ground, spitting dirt that lined his lips. It was suddenly so overwhelming to him—he was so used to just, _being _Sora that having complete control over his world again was a strange idea.

He didn't even know what had happened. Where _was _Sora?

"Need a hand?" He recognized that voice, though he hadn't heard it in such a long time. He lifted his head and peered through his blond bangs to stare at Naminé, who was staring back down at him.

Roxas rolled over and took her hand as she helped to pull him to his feet. "Where are we?" he asked. He found hearing his own voice again foreign.

"I'm not sure," Naminé said. She seemed absent-minded at the moment, walking away from Roxas's gaze. But when Roxas saw what Naminé was examining, he was intrigued.

Nearby there was a giant oak tree, but at the base was a wooden table. Two carved chairs sat at an angle face one another from either side of the table, and an assortment of cups and dishes littered the table top. It was as if someone had been here, having something like a tea party…

Naminé approached the table. Roxas wanted to stop her; something felt _dangerous, _but he trusted her. And so he walked up behind her, looking for signs of anything suspicious. Naminé's fingers slid a piece of paper from beneath one of the chipped tea cups, and she delicately held it in her hand.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn't exactly a piece of paper, but rather, a playing card. Roxas recognized it from Sora playing card games with his friends on the islands.

On its backside the design looked like a green standard playing card. When Naminé flipped it over to see the other side, it was an Ace of Hearts.

"Are there any other cards?" Roxas asked, gingerly lifting up tea cups and checking under all of the dishes.

"This seems to be the only one…" Her piercing gaze didn't leave the card for some time. And as if reaching some sort of concise conclusion, she began to march forward in a designated direction.

Roxas hastily dropped the sugar bowl he'd had in his finger tips and chased after her as the bowl clattered noisily on the table. "Wait, Naminé! Where are we going?"

"To find the way home."

* * *

Sora stumbled out of the debris unsteadily. He throat was raw with dark smoke, and he couldn't suppress the cough that came—he barely heard it over the deafening ringing in his ears.

He rubbed at his eyes, stinging from the ash, and when he could finally see he was appalled at the amount of damage that had been done.

What had once been a lab was a now a graveyard of advanced equipment. One of the consoles were still lit on fire, and underneath a pile of rubble lay the professor's body—his lab coat shredded and soaked in blood. Sora gave a shuddery gasp and looked away. Even though the professor had tried to kill them, a certain guilt in taking a human life nibbled at the corners of his conscious. He had only been trying to find a way home too, after all.

_No, but he was going to kill me doing it! _He tried to reason with himself as to not feel guilt on top of the desperate feeling of being lost, but he still couldn't wash the feeling away.

A tattered photo caught under a shredded piece of metal quivered in the small wind, catching Sora's attention. Taking note to it, Sora picked it up and realized it was the same photo from before—the queen.

Even if it was a bad option, finding her was the _only _option he had in that point in time. She may have already caught Riku and Kairi!

Slowly he crawled out of the debris, and found a barren patch of dirt to sit on safely. He took a moment to examine the photo, not exactly sure which direction to take to get to her. But as the ringing in his ears faded into quiet, chilling silence, he noted something he hadn't before.

Roxas wasn't there.

His heart picked up a quickened pace again, the threat of the idea washing over him over and over. What had happened to Roxas—his _heart_?...

The urgency of the situation willed him to stand up and walk through the forest, winding between the trees and taking care not to trip over branches. There was no sort of path to follow, so he had only his instinct and a photo to work on.

Three hours time passed soundlessly until he found a clearing in the trees. Beyond him was a building, fairly small in size. How much it appeared to look like an office building surprised Sora (almost to a frightening degree), but he mentally noted that he'd noticed the same trend of tendency to build buildings such as these between worlds. What made this world any different?

Still, he was a little shaken and treaded the building with some hesitancy. After all, this world was just plain creepy. Even Gakupo, the man who'd tried to kill him for an experiment, had said not to trust anything.

But Sora tried to ignore the coiling in his gut as he walked to the doors of the building. Timidly, he opened them, and they gave a huge _creeeaaaaak _sound. Sora hoped that no one had heard that….

_BANG._

The noise nearly made him jump out skin, and he had to ground his heels just to keep himself from running. Sora drove them further still as he heard the patting of footsteps across the hallway.

The light shining in from the opened doorway was enough to shine light onto a small pair of tattered shoes. A small voice broke through the dark. "Hey mister?" It was the voice of a girl. "Are you here to play with us?"

Sora dropped his guard a fraction, but still kept skeptical. "Who are you?"

The small girl took a step forward, bathing her form in light. She was petite and thin, most likely from not eating enough. Her black hair was messily tied up in two pigtails. "I'm Yuki," she answered. "And these are my brothers and sisters."

Sora leaned against the back door to swing it open a little more and identify the others she mentioned. Several other children stood behind her, all wearing shredded, threadbare clothing. "Mister!" One ran up to him and grabbed his hand. Sora instinctively flinched, unsure if he should trust what was happening. "Here, play with us!"

"What are we playing?" he asked as he was being dragged into the center of the room.

The door was shut by another one of the children, and the room became dark. Only the flickering of several candles lined by the walls gave off light. Sora's stomach lurched.

"Kagome, kagome." That didn't sound friendly. One of the children sat down in the middle and started to tie a blindfold. The others gathered around in the circle. Yuki motioned to Sora to come over. "Don't you know how to play?"

"No…" he said. He wasn't sure he _wanted _to know. But it was just a children's game; how bad could it be?

"Luka's in the middle—she's the demon," Yuki explained, "And he walk around her and sing. When we're done, she guesses who's behind you."

"And if she's right?..."

"Then they're the demon!" Yuki gave a loud chuckle in glee. "Come on!" But before Sora could argue, the children held hands and began to walk in slow circles. The children sang,

_Kagome kagome, the bird in the cage,  
when, when will you come out?  
In the evening of the dawn,  
the crane and turtle slipped.  
Who stands right behind you now?_

And when they halted, it was then that Sora realized that _he'd _ended up behind her. He panicked, afraid of the consequences of being picked. _It's just a game, it's just a game_, he had to tell himself.

For a fraction of a section, Sora imagined his name rolling from her lips, but realized that he'd never told the children his name—

"Mister?"

Sora almost replied, when he realized that the girl with bubblegum pink hair was _referring _to him. She untied the blindfold and turned around, and a wide grin lined her lips in such a way that it frightened him. Luka stood and held out the dirty white cloth to him expectantly.

He wasn't sure what made him take the cloth and tie it around his eyes, but he did just the same as he took a seat on the cold cement floor. His body nearly trembled as he realized he was in the absolute dark. His acute hearing picked up the sounds of shuffling feet and hands sliding together. Steps echoed all around him in a way that drove him nearly to the point of madness. He could even hear the catching of several breaths before the song began again:

_Kagome kagome, the bird in the cage,  
when, when will you come out?  
In the evening of the dawn,  
the crane and turtle slipped.  
Who stands right behind you now?_

The room suddenly become completely still. It was when he realized that he only knew two of the children's names. Well, that narrowed down his choices. As he bit his lip and was about to say Yuki's name, the loud creakingof the door shattered the silence of the room.

Sora tore his blindfold off and felt the Keyblade slide back into his hand as he readied himself for battle_._

* * *

**Vocaloid Reference  
**

**Concept for Meiko Sakane was adopted from _Evil Eater Conchita_**

**Concept for Luka Megurine/Yuki Kaai (originally Miku Hatsune) were adopted from _Kagome, Kagome_**

**Concept for Miku Hatsune was adopted from _Alice Human Sacrifice_**

**Others to be revealed later.  
**


End file.
